Bio227-3

Looks Like Your Home Pet!

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Canada Lynx

By Zac Denault

Lynx Candensis

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Background and Problems

They look like the cute and playful house cats that many people around the world find comfort in every time they return home. We all know people who would be very upset if suddenly domestic pet cats start to disappear. The Canada lynx looks very similar and are related to tigers, lions, domestic cats, jaguars and other members of the Felidae family (ITIS). Medium-sized cat with long legs, large, well furred paws, long tufts on the ears, and a short, black-tipped tail with the possibility of growing up to weight 44 pounds and 32 inches long as an adult (US Fish & Wildlife Service). That is like a small child! The main differences is that they are rarely domesticated, but instead make a “living” hunting in the snowy North American boreal forests with their amazing hearing and sight. They can see a mouse 250 feet away(LifeScience.com).

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They live in the classical boreal forests of Canada and Alaska and the subalpine forest of western United States and hardwood of the east. They spread along the North Cascades and Rocky Mountain Ranges in the west, the western Great Lakes Region, and northern Maine (US FWS). Slowly though, their range in the United States is getting closer to being extinct.

As a carnivore, the density in which these lynx populations will be in any region they are found has a direct relation to that of their primary

prey, snowshoe hair (US FWS). The more of their prey means the more of them. The US has a natural low number thus a smaller density of lynx. That makes it ever more important that their numbers are at the lowest they have ever been. For this reason the US Fish and Wildlife Service listed them on March 24, 2000 as a threatened species.

We are losing our Canada lynx here in the United States. Why?

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The US FWS described the following as the primary reason for the population decline. Main cause is the lack of guidance for the conservation of lynx and snowshoe hare habitat by the federal agencies, such as Bureau of Land Management. The majority of land is privately owned and used for commercial forest. The timber harvests thin the area for hair to hide and reproduce and thus less for lynx to capture. Also the inconsistency with regulatory laws across all regions cause harm to the population. A huge problem has to do with the reason that Lynx migrate from Canada and their mobility requires a large area, but the US is creating fragments that are not sustainable. Lastly the warm weather is causing less desirable snow conditions that take away the Lynx’s competitive advantage over the Bobcats (another lynx species), thus losing much hunting ground to this counterpart.

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How can we recover the Canada Lynx in the United States according to the US Fish & Wildlife Service?

Goal: To address threats so that protection under the Endangered Species Act is no longer needed and the Lynx can persist in the US for at least 100 years.

The focus will be on the core areas, an area with long history and best habitat to sustain a healthy lynx population. Still accommodating for immigration and emigration to adjacent populations in Canada or secondary areas.

First, management commitments in core areas will be made on both federal and privately owned land. Discover a baseline of lynx numbers and their habitat to monitor for any changes, with analysis at least every ten years. Map out and track the movement between Canada’s and US core areas with long term management teams.

After core areas are planned out, we need to focus on keeping secondary areas able to support the populations for reproduction to some day allow for a great US range south. This will be done with surveys and research on what Lynx’s habitats need to be successful.

Most importantly, further research needs to be made to identify and lessen the factors on lynx in the contiguous United States.

Lastly, a plan must be developed for what must be done to sustain the population once the Canada Lynx is no long listed under the Endangered Species Act.